Texan Mosaic

by DOM PUENTE//Staff Writer

With the college football season in full swing, the NCAA continues to dictate the game with pointless rules and an outdated perspective.

Thousands of sports fanatics tune in to watch college football every year, while the fan base continues to grow with younger generations eager to experience college football.

As I have become one of those young fans who enjoys the game, I feel college football has been lacking an exciting factor to create more order and gain more money for the NCAA.

Through the years, the NCAA has flooded the game of football with rules that do not affect the game in any shape or form.

An example of pointless rules are celebration penalties. A player and a team should not be penalized for celebrating an accomplishment, whether it be a game-deciding touchdown, a tackle that could decide the game’s outcome or even a simple touchdown.

Being told there are only a few ways to display emotions after something big is a disappointing use of power. Having penalties such as excessive celebration and unsportsmanlike conduct due to celebrating can hinder the outcome of a game. The NCAA feels a player is being over the top with his personal expressions, which is a bad look for the game.

Players and coaches may not feel the same way about the type of celebrations being penalized or that they may fall into the gray area for the officials to call. If that is the case, the rules of celebrations should not be as strict or even used.

Younger fans such like me enjoy over-the-top celebrations, as they bring an exciting atmosphere to football. Regulating celebrations is a form of regulating emotions, which should not be a loud. It is a form of excessive power the NCAA uses to take advantage of and holds players back from expressing themselves.

The efforts of making a game safer by implementing rules can create a better game for players and the people participating in football.

The game of football has been played for decades, yet the NCAA continues to flood in rules that hinder the game, as if there are not hundreds of rules already in place in a text book the size of a dictionary.

If rules are continuously being made, they should be placed in an effort to make the game better overall. They should not determine if a player should be penalized for diving into the end zone if no one was near the player.

Rules such as this should be excluded from the game of football. They benefit an era of football that is dead. The older generations loved watching offenses run the “Power-I,” yet it is hardly ever used because the game has adapted and evolved.

I see the game as being outdated, with rules benefiting an older generation who does not appreciate the flair and excitement the players are trying to create.

Change can scare people. However, I am not implying a total makeover of the way the game is played. Creating a better game that appeals to the excitement a younger audience can admire should be a top priority.

When Oregon began their uniform and style transition, players flocked to the university in order to play for the Ducks. They weren’t the best team in the country, yet the style and little change inspired other teams to do the same and change the status quo.

This became an on-going trend that has changed the way coaches recruit and how schools and the NCAA market college football.

With changes such as bright and attention-grabbing uniforms, reformed celebration rules that can keep the audience excited during the game can bring more attention. Having crazy uniforms and celebrating big plays can be perceived as negative, but it is just kids expressing themselves and displaying excitement for their accomplishments after putting in countless hours of hard work.

The game has become a way to make money and bring in sponsors along with marketing opportunities. The focus needs to be shifted back to the players and creating a game that is fun and exciting, while bringing people back for more without questioning the NCAA’s decisions and rules.

After all, the players are what keeps the sport going. That applies to any sport, whether it be men’s or women’s sports in junior leagues, high school, college or the professional level.

We turn our televisions on and flock to stadiums in order to watch athletes play sports. The NCCA might create rules and regulations, but athletes do not have to play.

They can do anything else with their lives, yet they make the sacrifices to play a game that we love to watch. Without the athletes, we don’t have sports, which is a discussion the NCAA needs to have because they are working in their best interests, not for the athletes.

College football players are the reason why colleges have million-dollar facilities, stadiums and bring them schools millions.

While the NCAA meets to discuss rising topics, they need to talk about ways to create a more exciting game for the players, instead of ways to create a game that is already outdated, bland, and dull.